One-Shot: Just a little bit of kindness
by Shiho-kun
Summary: Conan dragged Haibara along to a kids heist. Soon after arriving, Haibara gets into a pinch. Who will be the one to save her? Sometimes things are not like they seem to be.


One Shot – Just A Little Bit of Kindness

The little girl was wearing a fashionable red knitting-dress and was leaning with her back on the wall. She was sighing deeply. Ai Haibara had crossed her arms before her chest defensively while she yawned broadly. She didn't try to hide that she was really annoyed by the fact she had to come here with professor Agasa and Conan. There were much more important things she could have done other than standing here – like furthering the research of the APTX4869. But she had to stand in a wide spaced exhibition area of the Tokyo Museum of Ancient Art, while a dozen of policemen and policewomen were swarming frenetically and observantly around her.

Every two minutes inspector Ginzo Nakamori appeared around her and startled his policeofficers by nipping their faces. He was doing it with a lot of passion and it was – in his opinion – necessary. This way he could check if they wear a mask – Kid could potentially hiding behind everyone in this room. He was overdoing his duty like every time when a heist was announced by Kaito Kid.

Every face Haibara saw, had a big red or blue mark in it. The police officers were rubbing their slightly swollen cheeks with a painful expression in their eyes.

Even professor Agasa, who was standing together with Kudo-kun next to the showcase with the potential target of Kaito Kids heist, wasn't reprived by inspector Nakamoris nipping-attempts.

However, the attacks of Nakamori were no problem for Kudo-kun. He was beyond every suspicion in this childlike body of his and had nothing to be scared about. Nakamori wouldn't come near him.  
He was standing there, deeply in thought, looking at the piece of jewelery laying in the showcase. It was a shiny black jade piece with a length of about four centimeters which was shaped like a comma. In this mornings paper Kaito Kid had announced he wanted to steal it during this exhibition. Jirokichi Suzuki had - like always – insisted, that kid killer was present. Sonoko had slipped before her uncle that Agasa was an inventor and an acquaintance of Conan. So Suzuki had asked him to come to the museum as well, he wanted him to make sure of the quality of the technical traps he had prepared for Kid. Since Subaru wasn't at home today, Conan had asked Haibara to come for the case. It was the best for her not staying alone at home at the moment.

Now she was standing here and wasn't able to do anything else than watching the rejuvenated Shinichi Kudou who was getting more and more exited as he was engrossing his mind in his investigations. That guy had always been like that. She saw that he was panting for another encounter with Kaito Kid, who was a world-class thief, wanted by the police all over Japan. He was one a few people who were on the same level of mind as the genius detective Shinichi Kudo and maybe Kudo-kun was the only one who was fitted to hold a candle to Kaito Kid.

The girl could see the longing for the meeting in his eyes and his whole face at which a self-assured grin was exposed. She did not notice that her eyes also changed at this sight, and that a very warm, but at the same time sad, expression came into her eyes.

The owner of the jewelery approached professor Agasa and Conan and was now standing next to them. Just a moment later, inspector Nakamori joined the group. Jirokichi Suzuki told them with a proud grin at his bearded face:

"This jewelry in form of a comma is a so-called "Magatama". It's been existing more than 1000 years. I bought it from an art collector last week."

"A beautiful piece. Somehow it's reminding me of the two sides of the Taoist Ying and Yang symbol ..." Haibara heard professor Agasa saying those words and Conan added immediately after that:

"No wonder that the Magatama hadn't just been worn as jewelry but also for spiritual reasons until they were replaced by the Buddhist prayer beads in the Nara period, which was about 710 to 794."

Out of the corner of her eye, Haibara noticed that the eyes of all police officers who were within earshot were now looking at the little boy. Even Inspector Nakamori looked extremely puzzled and Suzuki only said: "If I wasn't sure that KID could not dress up as a primary school student, then you would definitely be my main suspect ..." Conan dodged the danger immediately: "R.. r... recently I saw a report on television about these jade drops, that's why I know so much about it ..." A little smile crept on Haibara's face. He was simply incorrigible. When would he finally manage to play his role as a child more convincingly? The face of Inspector Nakamori relaxed a bit after his words and Suzuki said, "Well, it was to be expected from the kid killer that he has a good memory ..." He raised his hand and patted the boy patronizingly on his shoulder and a aching expression showed on Conans face. From Haibaras perspective it looked a little painful.

The policeman with the black protective vest and the obligatory police officer cap entered the room. He scanned the environment fastly while elucidating all his possibilities. "First of all I should look around ..." he came to this conclusion as he noticed that both Inspector Nakamori and the little keen detective were distracted for the moment. He looked more closely at his surroundings. Everything actually looked like in the plan of the museum, which he had previously downloaded from the Internet. With a glance he realized that a sensor was directly above his target. It was probably a small trap, again devised by good old Jirokichi Suzuki. He would find out how the trap was working, anyway.

"I'd better sneak up a little closer to them, but I have to be careful not to make Nakamori suspicious. Even though I've already made safety precautions, I should not push my luck."

As he emergend from behind of several stucco columns that traversed the entire hall, he saw her leaning against the wall. It was a little girl with red-brown hair, leaning against the wall. She was standing a few yards away from his little critic and she was watching him. The man walked slowly towards her. When he followed her gaze and saw the expression in her eyes, he knew it immediately. "Huh... our little genius detective seems to have a small admirer ..." a broad grin crept on his face. The girl came just right. She was close enough to the inspector that he could overhear their conversation without causing much commotion. And if he talked to the girl, he would probably not arouse any suspicion. The instant he was standing in front of her, he hesitated for a moment. Something was wrong with this child. In her eyes he saw a seriousness which wasn't common for kids at the age of six years. The expression on her face was way too mature for a child.

Haibara was deeply lost in thoughts when she suddenly heard a voice right next to her: "When we are young, all we are thinking of, is love. With progressing of age, our thoughts are getting all our love. Do you know this quote, young lady?" The surprised girl turned around to the speaker. It was a man about forty, he was dressed like any other policeman in the room. At his cheek was also a red spot. She looked at him sharply for a moment, then came to the conclusion that he wasn't posing any danger to her. "Of course, it's a quote from Albert Einstein." She looked at him with big children's eyes.

"Youre so young, yet you know so much at your age..." He smiled at her and then nodded to Conan, who was still standing next to the showcase and was now studying a printed museum plan he had gotten from Jirokichi Suzuki. "He seems to be very interesting to you, am I right?" Haibara blushed visibly, but answered immediately: "What a nonsense. I'm just bored, that's all."

"Ah, I see..." A glittering appeared in the man's eyes. To Haibara, these eyes seemed very strange. It was almost as if they were too young for this face ... Could it be that this man was in reality ...? Instinctively, she grabbed her detective badge in her pocket. It was the best to let Kudou-kun check this man out.

A female voice disrupted her in her thoughts. A woman was standing on the other side of the room, talking in english to one of the policemen.

"What are you saying? I said no visitors are allowed at this exhibition at the moment!"

When Haibara heard the voice, it was like ice cold water was running down her spine. Pure horror was shown on her face as she heard the accent-free English and an elegantly dressed woman with blonde hair moved slowly towards her.

"C.. Could it be... Vermouth?" She began to tremble uncontrollably.

"What is she doing here? Is she here to get me?" She turned around to the policeman, who was quite surprised by her odd reaction. Haibara couldn't run anywhere. Right behind her was the wall, the possible escaping route to the left and right was blocked by showcases with exhibits and when she would ran forward, she would attract Vermouths attention directly to Conan. Besides, she would run straight into that woman's arms. She could not risk that.

"What can I do now?" Haibara thought, still shivering.

Kaito Kid, hidden under one of his masks, which was made by himself in painstaking hours, stared at the little girl. She suddenly turned away from the wall and hid behind him so that her face could no longer be seen by someone who was standing in the front part of the room. He was confused. Until one moment ago, she had been completely fine. He noticed that she quivered and that she was looking at every corner in the room. He saw an unexplainable fear in her eyes. He realized that she was probably afraid of the young foreigner who had not been there moments before. The blonde woman had tied her long hair to a braid and slowly moved through the room towards them. The woman walked up exactly towards the girl who was standing scared stiff behind the man. Why was that girl so afraid of this woman? He suddenly felt like the girls' fingers clung to the fabric of his right trouser leg.

Ai Haibara did not know what to do. Her thoughts were like paralyzed. At this moment, there was nothing she would have desired more than asking Kudou-kun for help, but she didn't want to put him into danger either.

In her desperation she reached out with her hand, grabbing her fingers tight into the fabric of the trousers of the police officer, who looked irritated at her. The woman wasn't far away anymore. This time, Haibara didn't even had a hoody, which had saved her so many times before. Vermouth would recognize her in an instant. Every person in this room would be killed without mercy by "them". She couldn't do anything at all, she was defenseless ... She froze, as she heard the voice again and she realized that the woman was talking to her directly, now speaking fluent Japanese. "Well, well... what are you doing here, little one?" Ai backed off and hid completely behind the man.

At that moment, the man began to react. He turned around, looked in her eyes and without attracting the womans attention, he blinked to her. She had no time to realize what happend. The policeman grabbed her suddenly under her arms and pulled her up to his chest. He gave her a light squeeze and for someone who didn't know him or the girl it had to look like they knew each other. Just like a father who would embrace his daughter.

Her face was now right next to his cheek and because she was quick-witted, she clung with her hands to his shoulders so that he could hold her a little longer. Haibara had understood. Eased, that the girl understood his intention, he turned his face to the woman, so that the woman could only see the reddish-brown back of her head.

"She is my daughter and isn't here all by herself. Im sorry, I did not want to bring her while I'm on duty, but she was so exited to see Kaito Kid in flesh..." As she was clinging to him, Haibara died nearly a thousand deaths. There was no way, Vermouth would be fobbed off by those lame explanation... Haibara was really surprised, as the woman said: "Well, she's only a kid, I guess it's unlikely that Kaito Kid will be disguised as her. She just seems a little scared, maybe you should bring her home." The woman went on to the group which was standig by Jirokichi Suzuki and Inspector Nakamori.

"Ah, I already missed you, Miss Bates. Inspector, may I introduce you to the director of this museum, Miss Cathrin Bates, who came from London to Tokyo and has been the director of this museum for about half a year already..." Jirokichi Suzuki loudly proclaimed.

Oh no ... there was no way she could have been such a fool. She threw a long glance at the woman's face and breathed out in a sigh of relief. She resembled the actress Chris Vineyard, but only at first glance. For Asians, western foreigners with the same hair color and origin often looked alike, but if she had not been so damn frightened, she would have noticed immediately that the two women had nothing in common. Since Ai herself had gone to school in America, she would have recognized the difference in an instant. A look at her face would have been too risky, though, if she would have been a member of the black organization.

The moment the woman was gone, Kaito could feel how the girl slowly relaxed. He turned his head to hers, and saw a very grateful expression in her eyes, an embarrassed blush on her cheeks appeared.

He felt her fast heart beating and he gently took her back down on the ground. She raised her hand in surprise and brushed unintendedly Kaitos cheek.

Kaito realized with scare, that there was now a red trace of make-up on the back of her hand. His selfmade "pinch-mark" which was made by him to attract as little attention as possible, was now at her fingers. The sharp eyed Inspector and his little detective friend would detect the blurred traces of make-up on his cheek straightway.

"Oh, my beautiful camouflage is done for. I wanted to trick the good old nibble-man with that... what a shame..." The little girl, who was still red-faced, looked up at him. He recognized the surprise and comprehension in her eyes as her gaze fell on his cheek. "Damn ... she probably noticed ..." He felt cold sweat. He had to scram as soon as possible.

"Thank you ... you may not know, but you did me a big favor ..." A broad, sincere smile appeared on her face. Her cheeks still glowed reddish.

"It's my pleasure, young lady ..." he replied and smiled back at her.

"Ah ... damn ..." Kaito thought as he noticed the little boy who seemed determined to visit his little female friend.

"Hey, Haibara!" Hastily, the girl turned to Conan when he had arrived by her, then she turned back to where the policeman stood. He was no longer standing beside her.

She watched after him as he sluggled away slowly, ignoring the dozens of police officers, standing around him. Just as if he was one of them in reality.

"Who was that? Is is possible, that ..." the boy said attentively, but Haibara just shook her head.

"No, it wasn't him," lied Haibara. Her heart was still beating at a unaturally quick pace. A wave of warmth and gratitude was running through her veins.

"Well ... I'm going back to the inspector, the moment of the start of Kids heist is approaching... after that we can go home ... I'm sorry that you have to stay bored," Conan said, looking at her apologetically.

"Oh, actually ..." a smile that was uninterpretable for him spread across her face

"I really don't think its boring here ..." The boy looked at her with a confused expression, then he went happily back to the professor, his usual self-assured grin back on his face.

As she looked after him, a chuckle crept on her face.

The policeman slowly went toward the exit. After a few steps, he turned around a last time to the little girl. She looked normal again. There seemed to be no danger anymore. Besides, there was someone else by her side who could protect her without a doubt. It was someone who was not supposed to discover him. That boy now moved away from the red-brown haired girl again, and again Kaito saw a delicate smile on her face.

Silently, so that only he could hear it, he whispered, "I wish you success in love, little lady." He did not have much time until his coup started. He still had to find a way to trick the little detective. A soft whistling on his lips, he left the room.


End file.
